Report: Vacant houses can lose their home insurance

Some consumers are finding out to their dismay in the current economy that their home insurance policies may not stay valid for long if they are forced to leave their house unoccupied for an extended period.

A recent report in the Salinas Californian newspaper notes that many home insurance policies are invalid if a home is left unoccupied for more than 30 days. The newspaper says that this is because unoccupied homes are more susceptible to fire, theft and vandalism, and that they may be added liability issues if, for example, children end up playing in the yard of the property.

Problems like theft and vandalism are of particular concern to insurers as well as homeowners because along with resulting in costly payouts, such things can also bring down property values in a neighborhood.

The report comes at a time when California and other states are continuing to struggle with high foreclosure rates and a weak real estate market in general.

Separately, homeowners who are senior citizens can often find that they may be entitled to discounts from their insurers because they statistically tend to be home more often and as a result are more likely to catch or prevent such problems in the first place, while also being considered less likely to cause much damage to a property.